12-04-2010, 03:00 PM
Hey guys,
I was wondering if any one has any thoughts on some of the day-to-day stuff for a soldier in the army of Herod the Great? I've got the Osprey book, "the army of Herod the Great" - It's a great book, but like most Osprey books, doesn't really get into things that the general public want to know, like "what was it like?". At the Creation Museum, we're getting ready to do our third year of our nativity production. We have thousands of people who come through, and they mostly are curious in the practical, day-to-day things. So I know this is probably mostly speculative, but I'd like to hear your ideas! Things like:
Wives? could they be married while in the service of Herod? If a soldier lived in one of Herod's garrisons, would they have some long distance thing going on? or maybe she'd live in a place near by? or maybe they just would be allowed to have wives? I it was based on a Hellenistic model, how did other hellenistic armies deal with such a thing?
Day-to-day? Did they do drills all day? were they used in building projects? or were they just sent to and fro, and used as police while there weren't major conflicts going on? were they allowed to set up shops while off-duty (if they had that?)?
Years of service? How long would they serve? If they weren't a normal auxiliary army, and didn't get the Roman citizenship after 25 years of service (the impression I got from "the army of Herod the Great" - Osprey book), what might be the motives for getting in or out of the army?
Active service? Would their be an active service period? like in modern military? All though it way not the right time period, but it just makes me think of Uriah serving under David, who did have a wife, and it seemed that when not in war, he'd go home and live with his wife.
Pay? Would it be fair to say that Herod paid them decently since they seemed to be pretty loyal to him?
Thats all I got for now. Hopefully this starts some neat discussions! Thanks!
I was wondering if any one has any thoughts on some of the day-to-day stuff for a soldier in the army of Herod the Great? I've got the Osprey book, "the army of Herod the Great" - It's a great book, but like most Osprey books, doesn't really get into things that the general public want to know, like "what was it like?". At the Creation Museum, we're getting ready to do our third year of our nativity production. We have thousands of people who come through, and they mostly are curious in the practical, day-to-day things. So I know this is probably mostly speculative, but I'd like to hear your ideas! Things like:
Wives? could they be married while in the service of Herod? If a soldier lived in one of Herod's garrisons, would they have some long distance thing going on? or maybe she'd live in a place near by? or maybe they just would be allowed to have wives? I it was based on a Hellenistic model, how did other hellenistic armies deal with such a thing?
Day-to-day? Did they do drills all day? were they used in building projects? or were they just sent to and fro, and used as police while there weren't major conflicts going on? were they allowed to set up shops while off-duty (if they had that?)?
Years of service? How long would they serve? If they weren't a normal auxiliary army, and didn't get the Roman citizenship after 25 years of service (the impression I got from "the army of Herod the Great" - Osprey book), what might be the motives for getting in or out of the army?
Active service? Would their be an active service period? like in modern military? All though it way not the right time period, but it just makes me think of Uriah serving under David, who did have a wife, and it seemed that when not in war, he'd go home and live with his wife.
Pay? Would it be fair to say that Herod paid them decently since they seemed to be pretty loyal to him?
Thats all I got for now. Hopefully this starts some neat discussions! Thanks!
Travis
